Officer Kiyotaka Ijichi was halfway through a beef sandwich when an emergency call came in.
A teenage girl's voice came through the line, panicked and trembling, her words catching as she spoke. Even so, she managed to give the address and explain what was happening.
Three people had broken into her family's shop. One was holding a dagger, another a curved blade, and the third had a gun.
Kiyotaka Ijichi barely had time to ask a follow-up question before the sound of a phone hitting the ground rang out, mixed with the sharp crash of shattering glass. Then came waves of agonized screams.
He immediately set the sandwich aside, pulled on his clothes, and got ready to leave. Just then, another officer grabbed his wrist.
Under Kiyotaka Ijichi's confused stare, Hide Nozawa shook his head.
"You've only been here a week, right? Around here, getting by depends on connections. You heard them mention a gun? That pretty much means the Matsuri Gang."
Hide Nozawa pointed upward with one finger, then made a counting-money gesture.
"Our bosses have ties with the Matsuri Gang. Everyone just keeps one eye open and one eye closed. Don't take the wrong road."
Those words hit Kiyotaka Ijichi like a shock. The sense of justice he carried as a police officer seemed to wither before it had even had a chance to take root.
"Don't take the wrong road?
Who are you talking about?
Me?
Since when do we, as police,have to bow to gangsters before saving people?"
Seeing his reaction, Hide Nozawa let go of his wrist.
"Shh. I'm only going to say this once. Every young person has dreams, and that's fine. But you need to tell ideals and reality apart.
You'll want to start a family someday, right? Have a wife and kids? Support your parents? The Matsuri Gang's members are usually still somewhat rational. It's nothing more than high-interest loans."
"Nothing more than high-interest loans?"
Kiyotaka Ijichi knew better. If a loan shark really set their sights on something you had, even scraping together the full amount wouldn't save you. They would find ways to stop you from paying.
They might block your transfers, give you invalid accounts that money couldn't be sent to, all kinds of tricks. Then they would keep throwing up obstacles until you missed the deadline. Once that happened, the terrifying interest would snowball, leaving you completely unable to repay.
Until it came to selling your sons and daughters.
As his thoughts churned, a scene from his childhood suddenly surfaced. He remembered being surrounded and bullied by three classmates, the helplessness and despair of that moment still vivid even now.
Kiyotaka Ijichi took off his outer coat and headed for the door.
"This is my own personal action, not Officer Ijichi's."
Hide Nozawa picked up the clothes Kiyotaka Ijichi had dropped on the floor, placed them on the table, and let out a quiet sigh.
...
When Kiyotaka Ijichi finally arrived at the scene, all that greeted him was devastation. For this incident, he might have sacrificed his future career, yet fate offered him nothing in return.
He stood there in a daze, staring at the wreckage before him. He reached for his phone, then stopped, unsure of who he could even call.
"I'm too late."
…
Early the next morning, Monzen Keiji and Sachi Kusayama stepped out through an opulent doorway, carrying a human-shaped figure as they headed for the "scrap room" to take care of it.
Sachi Kusayama shook his head.
"I thought we'd just scare them into handing over the money. Who would've guessed that a real big shot from above would show up yesterday?"
Monzen Keiji cut him off at once.
"Shh. That's a good thing. Think about it. Once the reward comes down, forget about reputation or status. Just our share alone is enough for a few nights at the bar."
Maki Shinagawa, lifted casually between the two of them, stared blankly upward.
Her gambler father had already left home. The family business was finally starting to improve. The class president had accepted her stuttering confession. Today was her birthday. Everything had been moving in the right direction.
So why…
After witnessing her mother's brutal death and enduring utter humiliation, Maki Shinagawa suddenly felt something awaken inside her. A power born from extreme rage and despair surged through her body.
It felt as though she could make her own bones grow.
She forced every last bit of strength she had into her neck, trying to make bone push outward. Even piercing the hands of these two demons would have been enough. But the power she had left was nowhere near sufficient.
[Too late. I came too late.]
Her eyes, completely dried of tears, were wide open as she stared at the two men carrying her. With the very last of her strength, she forced her cracked lips apart.
"I curse you!!
May you die miserable deaths!!!"
...
"Huh?"
Startled by a sudden sound beside him, Monzen Keiji flung the girl in his hands onto the floor. Her eyes were wide open, fixed on him. Even someone as "experienced" as he was felt a chill crawl up his spine.
"Dead?"
He kicked the corpse's head a few times, then looked over at Sachi Kusayama, who was still holding her by the ankles.
"Looks like she just ran out of strength. Want to take advantage while she's still warm? I remember you're into that."
Sachi Kusayama rolled his eyes.
"Give me a break. I'm not some beast that gets horny over anything. Those big shots really know how to have fun. There's probably not a single good piece of flesh left on her."
Monzen Keiji clicked his tongue and shook his head.
"Tsk. Still, when the big shots make a move, they're generous. Over a hundred million. When the boss is happy, we get some leftovers too. No need to dump her in the scrap room this time. Just bag her and have the driver take her to the coast."
Sachi Kusayama nodded and tossed the corpse to the floor.
"I'll go get the bag. Once we're done, how about a drink?"
"Sure. We'll go once the boss's reward comes in."
Left alone in the corridor, Monzen Keiji didn't notice the shadow of the corpse behind him starting to ripple and twist. Slowly, a black skeletal hand emerged, followed by an entire black skeleton taking shape.
The Skeleton Woman stared fixedly at the man in front of her.
"May you die a miserable death… may you die a miserable death…"
A chill crept up Monzen Keiji's back. He turned around and saw a slender beauty dressed in a kimono. As a low-level underling, he'd never seen anything like this.
The bar girls and kidnapped women he knew couldn't even compare. That aura… she had to be someone important. Maybe the boss's woman? Was she here to check on things?
Monzen Keiji immediately bowed.
"Hello. May I ask who you're looking for?"
He felt the woman place a hand on his head.
[Did my luck finally turn around?]
The Skeleton Woman reached up, grabbed his hair, and yanked. A violent tearing pain exploded in his neck, and panic set in.
"H-Hey, what are you—"
Before he could finish, a series of sickening ripping sounds rang out as the Skeleton Woman tore his entire spine free, vertebra by vertebra.
Blood sprayed everywhere in an instant, filling the air with a thick, metallic stench.
Sachi Kusayama returned with the bag just in time to see the scene. In that moment between life and death, he saw the Skeleton Woman's true form.
As a member of the yakuza, he wasn't afraid of fights or shootouts. But things like this, things beyond reason, terrified him.
His teeth chattered uncontrollably. He couldn't even scream or run.
The Skeleton Woman appeared in front of him in an instant.
With a wet snap, the lower half of his face was cleanly severed by bone. His teeth and lips, still stuck together, twitched rhythmically.
The Skeleton Woman plunged her hand straight into Sachi Kusayama's chest. His bones began to grow wildly, spreading and multiplying until his entire body collapsed into a grotesque sphere of bone.
With her target gone, the Skeleton Woman slowly turned her gaze toward the luxurious doors at the other end of the corridor.
There were still humans there.
...
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